Time at the camp was relaxing, allowing us all to unwind and relax for the first time in a long while. Here, we didn't have to wake up at night to keep watch. Although I admit that the first few days back were strange, it was still a challenge to sleep through the night.
All of us would wake up at random times in the night, since it had almost become a habit by now.
And not a good habit at that.
However, apart from the rest, we also enjoyed the food, the warm water, and all the life around us.
Being back was great, although I still missed home. I also had this nagging feeling that it wouldn't be too long before I had to leave that behind for good.
Once the war was over, I would no doubt be expected to marry Hiashi, and while I didn't dislike him. I also didn't intend to marry him and have his children.
I had children, three of them, and both of the ones born naturally hadn't turned out very well.
Zetsu was my son, but well, he was hardly a normal child.
Given my history, I was hesitant about having more, not to mention I didn't intend to stick around under the watchful eye of Konoha for the next few decades.
Within like twenty years, Zetsu would unseal me, so I had to be ready for that, not to mention that sticking around so close to where Naruto and Sasuke were born would be dangerous.
After all, there was a high chance that my most disappointing son would watch over them, and while I was still far from looking like my old self, who knew what he could see, or might do.
Still, that was hopefully still a few years away, so for now, I still had a home back in Konoha, though I would also have to think about what to do once I left, and might have to prepare a new home in advance.
"Sup Yuki, you seem to be in deep thought there?" Koji asked, bringing me out of my own little world.
"Something important in those letters?" He asked, pointing to the letter in my hand, with curiosity burning in his eyes.
"Just thinking about home is all, I figure you got plenty of news from there yourself… unless that pile was all meant for Kuro, don't tell me you were forgotten about?" I teased, shifting the subject away from me.
As predicted, Koji shut up real quick as his poor little brain struggled to come up with a comeback.
His response?
He threw the letter in his hand at me, and I snapped it out of the air. "For me?"
I grinned at him; the look on his face was priceless.
"Let's see, Koji, my beloved, I long for you day and night, the scent of your hair, the heat of your body, oh Koji, my beloved partner, I can't wait to be embraced by you again, you are the howling wind that keeps me going." I quickly made up some random sappy stuff.
After all, the letter wasn't mine to read, so I didn't.
Didn't mean I couldn't mess with him though.
And his reaction, well, it was perfect.
I honestly didn't think he would be so embarrassed by it, and it made me want to read the letter; in fact, it was so bad I couldn't help but skim it out of the corner of my eyes.
It was far more boring than what I made up.
Koji's eyes went wide the moment I said "Koji, my beloved," like I'd smacked him across the face with a burning scroll.
His entire posture snapped upright, ears flushed bright red, jaw working uselessly like a fish trying to breathe out of water. For a solid two seconds, he just stared at me in stunned silence, lips parted slightly, expression frozen in absolute, catastrophic mortification.
Then he exploded.
"What—no—that's not—Yuki!" he spluttered, snatching at the air like he could reel my words back in. "That's not what it says! Do n't—don't say stuff like that! That's... that's evil!"
I smirked and twirled the letter between my fingers, letting it flap mockingly. "Evil? Moi? I'm just reading what your beloved wrote."
"She's not my beloved!" he groaned, both hands now in his hair, dragging down his face as if trying to pull the blush off it.
Kuro was rolling around on the ground, wheezing and laughing, finding it even more amazing than I did.
I leaned in slightly, just enough to make him flinch. "Don't worry, Koji," I said, my voice a soft whisper, deliberately overdramatic, "I'm sure one day you'll find someone who howls your name into the night."
His face burned. Like, actually red-hot. He opened his mouth again, made a noise somewhere between a bark and a squeak, then dropped onto his bunk with a defeated whumph, arm flung over his face like he was shielding himself from my very existence.
"I hate you," came the muffled reply from beneath his forearm.
I laughed. "No, you don't."
"…You're right. But I want to. Just for a minute."
"Then maybe don't throw your letters at people if you don't want people to read it." I said, throwing it back to him, before going back to my own letters.
They were from friends and family, some updating me about their lives, wishing me the best, hoping that I was doing well.
In addition to those, there were also a few letters from Hiashi. I felt like he had been told when to write me. As some of them did seem like they were from him, others… well, more like he was told to write, and just filled them with random information.
Not that I blamed him, I was sure he was busy, likely training, learning clan leader stuff. Taking greater responsibility, maybe even helping the war in his own way from behind the scenes.
Those letters also happened to be the most useful ones. Since they were filled with information about the war and the clan, I was able to learn a good amount about the current situation.
More so since some of the other random bits of information gave me important clues as to what else might be happening in the shadows.
For example, he wrote about the Uchiha clan, which likely meant that things weren't going well there, likely many deaths, or someone important had died, which caused them to make a commotion, and that reached his ears, and weighed on his heart.
Then there were other bits, some deaths, both from him and others, just some small notes, saying someone I vaguely knew had died in the war.
I didn't know everyone in the clan, far from it, but I could make some estimations, that if five percent of people I knew died, it was like that five percent of all clanmen outside died.
It wasn't accurate, but it was a good enough guess.
All in all, I got a good picture of the war, it was getting worse. Letter by letter, I could read between the lines. Hiashi grew increasingly busy, and my mother grew ever more worried.
Yes, clearly it wasn't going too well.
Even from the camp, I got the same feeling.
The war was about to enter its final stage, a brutal one where numbers were thrown at the problem.
I had noticed lately that larger groups had moved around, and a few times we had to pull back.
There was once, when we nearly got caught by a team of two dozen Suna shinobi.
Just low-level shinobi, Genin, and Chuunin. However, the number alone was enough for me to have our team back off.
We just didn't have the AOE for it. Not when a small needle could spell death, and with that many people, they could throw a lot of said needles around.
So, yes, I expected that within a few months, our team would struggle. We might be able to kill a few Genin and Chuunin here and there, but teams might grow too big for just four to handle.
That wouldn't last long, not before the number of deaths would force the villages to split those large teams up.
Small teams, with little more than hope and luck to carry them.
Whether or not I would be asked to deal with those teams, I didn't know, but I was doubtful. Suna would likely be out by then.
So, other fronts would likely need me more than here, such as against Iwa or Kumo. Those were the most troublesome ones, and the only ones with any real ability to threaten Konoha.
I put the pile of letters down and instead picked up one of the sealing scrolls that had been sent along—gifts from the clan and everyone.
Sealing scrolls truly were some impressive things, and they were old; the first scrolls were made by none other than Hagoromo.
Those had been rare back then; people didn't know how to make new ones, and they only slowly figured it out. But it wasn't until the Uzumaki clan came around that the art really took off.
They mastered sealing far better than either the Hagoromo clan or the Senju clan, even though their talents should be from their blood.
Even I didn't know why that was, but with the Uzumaki clan, the art of sealing really took off, and sealing scrolls became commonplace.
They also made multiple variations of them, like this one in my hand.
This one was of high quality and could store a substantial number of items, almost like an inventory. It had some limitations, such as being unable to store fresh foods and the like.
Sealing living items was… difficult. Without the Uzumaki clan around, I didn't think anyone could do that anymore.
Sealing scrolls inside scrolls was also possible, but it took some special ones for that, expensive ones.
I had plenty of knowledge about sealing, having learned everything I could from the Uzumaki, but I had limited experience with the art. It wasn't something a Hyūga could study without permission.
I would likely be allowed if asked, but I didn't feel the need for that. I wanted to learn taijutsu and how to fight properly, something like sealing I could handle on my own.
Now, the thing about sealing scrolls is that you didn't know what was sealed inside them. It could be gold, rice, or a bomb.
I was sure nothing dangerous was inside this one, but I would have to unseal each item to find out what I had been sent.
And that could take a while.
I unfolded the scroll, and storage seal after storage seal appeared on the paper, dozens of them.
With practiced ease, I placed my fingers on the first one, and applied a bit of chakra, a puff of smoke accompanied the seal item.
First, a fine wooden box, expensive, tasteful, inside, Kunai, high-quality ones. It was a fine gift, while we Hyūga shinobi didn't use many of them, we still had them, in particular as active war shinobi.
We needed them for many reasons, our palms were our most deadly weapon for sure, but if I needed to cut some rope, a kunai was still more useful.
I set it aside and continued. Item after item. All useful things, stuff every shinobi needed, useful, yes, but not very personal.
I guess that was to be expected; this scroll was sent by Hiashi. And he really was the type that didn't know what to give a woman, so he took the safe option, didn't give his future wife a gift, but gave a fellow shinobi a gift.
I sealed the items into my own scrolls, where I had a system, so I could easily find everything.
Then, I moved on to the next scroll. More of the same, with a few different things. But mostly just the same kind of items. After all, even if someone did want to gift me stuff, I couldn't use it while I was out in the field.
And finally, a scroll sent by my mother.
(End of chapter)
More from the last chapter, a bit of rest, some setting up of future stuff, nothing big, a few explanations for this and that. Because of sealing scrolls. They aren't explained in detail in the anime or manga.
So, yeah, every fic seem to have their own take. And so do I.